Page 47

“Then stay,” Corvus said simply, reaching out a hand to touch the ends of her hair, almost as if reassuring himself that she was still there.

Leaning in, Pearl kissed him softly, and it was like a dam broke open within both of them. Corvus pulled her into his lap, and held her almost bruisingly close. Pearl’s hands were in his hair, and she felt as though she were pouring all of the pent up emotions of the past few days into her fevered kisses. Fear and longing and sadness and hope. So much hope. Feeling Corvus’ thumbs pass across her cheeks, Pearl realized she was crying and she broke the kiss with a laugh. “We are rather a ridiculous pair, aren’t we? Do you think we’ll be able to kiss without one of us crying?”

Corvus’ smile was mischievous. “I think if we kiss long and often, we might be able to break the habit.” His hands went to her cheeks and pulled her in for another searing kiss, and a moan slipped out of her throat as his kisses began a trek down her throat to the sensitive joint of her neck and shoulder and his hands were on her back pulling her flush against him. Lost in the sensation, it took a moment for Pearl’s brain to register that Corvus was breathing rather heavily.

“Goodness, some nurse I am. The doctor told you to rest and here I am getting your heart rate up and draining you further.”

“As the patient, I beg to differ. I’m not sure if I’ve felt better in my life. I think this is exactly what I need to feel better.” And Pearl was hard pressed to disagree with him. There was color in his cheeks and so much life in his eyes. She grew distracted staring into the new gray depths, and she traced them with a finger. “Did you know your eye color was a physical manifestation of the curse?”

Capturing her hand as he answered, Corvus pressed a kiss to her palm. “Not when we first knew each other, but when I found out about the curse a few years ago, Mother told me.”

“Why didn’t you approach me sooner, Corvus? Why did you wait until you had less than a year left?” Pearl snuggled up beside him as though afraid if she let go he would disappear.

A sigh left Corvus’ mouth before he answered, and Pearl could feel it against her cheek. “Well, I wanted to work on myself before I tried to approach you. It’s not your job to fix me or heal the parts of me that are broken. I didn’t want to put that on you. Honestly, finding out about the curse didn’t really change my calculus. It was a matter of being as worthy of you as I could be and then waiting for the time to be right. Although, I did begin to despair that you’d ever break up with Richard.”

Pearl’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know about Richard?”

“If you’re trying to make me feel bad about keeping tabs on you, you’ll find me unrepentant. I wasn’t going to miss my last shot.”

“And to think, if I’d broken up with Richard earlier, I could have gotten my hands on The Book of the Lion that much sooner.”

Corvus’ laugh was rich with mirth and relief, and he captured her face in his hands. “I’d give you the world, you know?”

The sincerity with which he said it brought tears to her eyes again. “I know you would, but all I want is you.”

Corvus was kissing her again when the words were barely out of Pearl’s mouth. Like he was trying to convey with his lips what words couldn’t express. She was trying to be gentle with him, but when he began kissing his way along her clavicle and possessively gripping her butt cheeks, she unbuttoned his silk pajama top to show the appreciation she’d been dying to express towards the muscles that had been tempting her through his well tailored clothes all year. Feeling his warm skin under her hands with her lips following along behind was heady and dreamlike. They were panting like two teenagers, and Pearl pulled back before she started undoing his pajama bottoms with her teeth. Corvus’ pupils were blown wide, almost swallowing his new gray irises, and he looked so mussed and kissable, Pearl groaned inwardly at how responsible she was being with her next words. “Thanks to the efforts of the people who love you most, we will have plenty of time for this, and I should probably leave so you can get some actual rest.”

As though he hadn’t heard a word she said, Corvus took her hands and placed them on his bare chest so she could feel his heartbeat - steady and strong.

They sat in silence for a moment just taking each other in - the last traces of fear and desperation bleeding out of their bodies and a deep contentment settling instead. Corvus’ voice was soft when he spoke again. “Please stay here with me tonight? I can’t convince myself this isn’t just the loveliest dream. If I wake up and you’re beside me, I’ll know that it’s real.”

And what could Pearl really do against such earnestness but curl up in his arms, rest her head on his chest, and sleep more deeply than she had in years. And if she’d thought to look, she would have seen Mercutio curled up in a nearby chair looking as smug as if he’d arranged the whole thing.

The doctor’s orders of rest proved deeply unnecessary. Pearl was convinced that the countercurse was so well designed, it was as though the curse had never existed. Although, much to Pearl’s chagrin, Frederick and Pru both expressed, without the knowledge of the other, that the power of love had given Corvus enough energy to rival the sun. They hadn’t talked of love since the curse had been broken, and Pearl wasn’t sure how to say, “I really meant it when I told you I loved you when you were dying.”

As soon as Hannah discovered what had happened, she threw a party with a banner that said, “Congrats on not dying and managing to convince the best woman in the world that you’re not a prat!” As soon as Hannah noticed the unapproved update to her banner, she chased Pru around the house threatening that she’d get pregnant again just to spite her if she didn’t change it back. Hannah had graciously told Corvus he could bring all of his friends, and he showed up with Fred in tow. Pearl had expected Frederick to be highly entertained by the show, but instead was surprised to find him paying rapt attention to Aashvi as she explained the importance of crop rotation.

Nudging Corvus she whispered, “I didn’t know Fred had such a keen interest in farming.”

“He also has a keen interest in beautiful, highly intelligent women who are out of his league.”

Pearl smiled mischievously, “And as a very good friend of Aashvi’s, I happen to know she rambles when she’s nervous.”

Corvus laughed heartily, and wrapped his arms around Pearl, drew her back flush with his chest, and rested his chin on her head as they both observed the pair. “Are you going to channel Emma Woodhouse for Fred?”

Pearl sniffed. “We both know how well that went for her. And besides, you already said she’s out of his league.”

“Well, we both know you’re well out of mine, so what can I say? I want the best for my friend.”

Further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Sofia who threw her arms around Corvus and Pearl and shouted, “I knew it! I knew it!”

Pru, who had acquiesced on the sign and had been allowed reentry into the living room, shouted from across the room, “We all knew it, Sofia. Don’t act like you’re the only one who could read the tea leaves and see they were mad about each other.”

Sofia, never one to be cowed, shouted back, “No thanks to you!”

Surprisingly, the flippant words seemed to strike Pru right between the eyes, and she drifted over to Pearl and Corvus looking more subdued than Pearl had ever seen her. Grabbing Pearl’s hands, she spoke with deep sincerity. “In an effort to keep you from getting hurt, I stood in the way of something you wanted. You’re a grown woman who can make your own decisions, and I’ll kill him in his sleep if he hurts you again.”

Pearl laughed and hugged her before she could continue. “I know you love me, Pru, and I know it was well meant. Perhaps you can consider giving Corvus a chance?”